distance and spraying up their white foam like Palomino horses leaping into the air.
A thought took hold of his mind. A piece from the news he’d heard on the radio before he left home. Something about an ancient civilisation predicting the end of the world this December. Maybe it wasn’t quite as ridiculous as it had sounded.
If the world was going to end, then there was nowhere Sam would rather be for his final moments than with his board out on the open sea. He sprinted into the waves, throwing himself into the water as soon as it reached knee height.
He checked out the buoys and noted the increasing swell size – 3m at 10 seconds, 5m at 12 seconds, 7m at 14 seconds. 10m at 16 seconds. This was crazy. Made the hairs stand up on the back of Sam’s neck.
He stood for a second. Felt the sand vibrating beneath his feet, sending tiny tremors through his body.
How he wished his mates were here to experience this. If only Ross hadn’t broken his leg on his snowboarding holiday and Tom hadn’t been sent abroad to work for his slave- driving father it might feel safer to go in.
Sam lay back on the board and with his arms he paddled as hard as he could. He tried to ignore the icy cold as it froze his face and his fingers. In between waves he made some progress, but as soon as the water came at him he lost almost as much distance as he’d gained.
Half an hour it took to get to where the biggest of the waves were breaking and from the way the light was closing in he knew he’d only have one shot at catching a ride and that he’d have to make the most of it.
He waited with as much patience as he could muster. Counted the undulations in the water and felt the rhythm of the sea as if he were a doctor listening carefully at someone’s chest. The first roll he saw got him scared. He’d only ever seen anything that big on the old surfing documentaries from out in Hawaii. The size of this one, it was like some kind of monster was emerging from the depths. To go in would be suicide, to miss the opportunity impossible.
Sam’s heart pounded. The beats alternated between ones of fear and excitement. He set his board parallel to the shore. Felt the water rise beneath him and paddled like a furious penguin to catch the moment.
A wall of sea some 10 metres tall rose up ahead. He felt the rise and pushed himself up into a standing position.
The swell was huge. Perfect. Like curved sheets of glass made by an enormous artist. In the distance, the sea boomed as sets of waves offloaded in the distance.
To survive this he was going to have to use all his experience. Would need to study every movement of the ocean to find those rips.
His mind told him he could do it. All he needed to do was to be careful.
Unfortunately, Careful was not Sam’s middle name.
In the space of a blink, the moment came.
He paddled for all he was worth into the rip that was running fast and wild like a white-water river. Within moments, he felt himself losing control and he was heading out to sea.
Man, it was insane.
The only thing for it was to paddle sideways.
His arms burned as they pulled him out of the rip. Inside his ultra-cosy suit it felt like his sweat was about to boil. Thank goodness his face was in the open, cooling his thoughts as they ran around in his brain like they were in the middle of a particle experiment in the Hadron Collider.
And then he was clear. Out of the rip and into a moment of calm. A chance for his heart to slow down and settle.
He looked up and felt in awe of what he saw. Incredible waves, towering and majestic and full of wrath. It was the kind of moment that turned men into gods and gods to men.
Sam turned to get his bearings, lined up with the
A thought took hold of his mind. A piece from the news he’d heard on the radio before he left home. Something about an ancient civilisation predicting the end of the world this December. Maybe it wasn’t quite as ridiculous as it had sounded.
If the world was going to end, then there was nowhere Sam would rather be for his final moments than with his board out on the open sea. He sprinted into the waves, throwing himself into the water as soon as it reached knee height.
He checked out the buoys and noted the increasing swell size – 3m at 10 seconds, 5m at 12 seconds, 7m at 14 seconds. 10m at 16 seconds. This was crazy. Made the hairs stand up on the back of Sam’s neck.
He stood for a second. Felt the sand vibrating beneath his feet, sending tiny tremors through his body.
How he wished his mates were here to experience this. If only Ross hadn’t broken his leg on his snowboarding holiday and Tom hadn’t been sent abroad to work for his slave- driving father it might feel safer to go in.
Sam lay back on the board and with his arms he paddled as hard as he could. He tried to ignore the icy cold as it froze his face and his fingers. In between waves he made some progress, but as soon as the water came at him he lost almost as much distance as he’d gained.
Half an hour it took to get to where the biggest of the waves were breaking and from the way the light was closing in he knew he’d only have one shot at catching a ride and that he’d have to make the most of it.
He waited with as much patience as he could muster. Counted the undulations in the water and felt the rhythm of the sea as if he were a doctor listening carefully at someone’s chest. The first roll he saw got him scared. He’d only ever seen anything that big on the old surfing documentaries from out in Hawaii. The size of this one, it was like some kind of monster was emerging from the depths. To go in would be suicide, to miss the opportunity impossible.
Sam’s heart pounded. The beats alternated between ones of fear and excitement. He set his board parallel to the shore. Felt the water rise beneath him and paddled like a furious penguin to catch the moment.
A wall of sea some 10 metres tall rose up ahead. He felt the rise and pushed himself up into a standing position.
The swell was huge. Perfect. Like curved sheets of glass made by an enormous artist. In the distance, the sea boomed as sets of waves offloaded in the distance.
To survive this he was going to have to use all his experience. Would need to study every movement of the ocean to find those rips.
His mind told him he could do it. All he needed to do was to be careful.
Unfortunately, Careful was not Sam’s middle name.
In the space of a blink, the moment came.
He paddled for all he was worth into the rip that was running fast and wild like a white-water river. Within moments, he felt himself losing control and he was heading out to sea.
Man, it was insane.
The only thing for it was to paddle sideways.
His arms burned as they pulled him out of the rip. Inside his ultra-cosy suit it felt like his sweat was about to boil. Thank goodness his face was in the open, cooling his thoughts as they ran around in his brain like they were in the middle of a particle experiment in the Hadron Collider.
And then he was clear. Out of the rip and into a moment of calm. A chance for his heart to slow down and settle.
He looked up and felt in awe of what he saw. Incredible waves, towering and majestic and full of wrath. It was the kind of moment that turned men into gods and gods to men.
Sam turned to get his bearings, lined up with the
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